In Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Release 8.5, licensing has changed from a user-based licensing model to a host-based model, including record keeping, for potential license audits. Two new license types replace the previous conference, maximum, feature and integration licenses.

Licenses enable specific features and capabilities on the system. You purchase licenses with your Cisco Unified MeetingPlace order and install the license file for that order on the primary and (if applicable) secondary Meeting Director nodes. In a non-multinode system, install the license file on the Application Server(s).

Note: The Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Release 8.5 system does not retain any licenses from previous releases. Instead, you must obtain new Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Release 8.5 licenses.

Licenses for Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Release 8.5

You purchase user licenses with your order for the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system. Each user license comprises one audiohost license and one videohost license, as described in the following table. The Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system counts one license when a user hosts one or more meetings, within a 90-day period.

Licensing Changes Between Release 8.0 and Release 8.5

Starting with Release 8.0, customers can purchase user-based licenses for Cisco Unified MeetingPlace. However, licenses still indirectly restrict the number of meeting participants. With Release 8.5, this restriction is removed and any number of participants can join a meeting, as long as your Cisco Unified MeetingPlace server deployment has been appropriately sized to handle this volume.

Licenses no longer restrict the number of meeting participants.

For a multinode system:

Licenses require the hardware MAC address of the primary (and if applicable) the secondary Meeting Director nodes. For virtual machines, the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system creates a Licensing MAC address for each Meeting Director node.

Install the license file on only the Meeting Director node(s). Do not install a license file on any other node.

For an audio-only deployment or a web conferencing deployment with MeetingPlace scheduling:

Licenses require the hardware MAC address of the active (and if applicable) the standby Application Server. For virtual machines, the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system creates a Licensing MAC address for each Application Server.

Install the license file on only the Application Server(s). Do not install a license file on any other machine.

Release 8.5 no longer supports six trial video and six voice ports for meetings.

Note: You must obtain a new license even if you have an existing Cisco Unified MeetingPlace license and are reusing the same hardware, as the license types have changed.

Counting Licenses in Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Release 8.5

The permissions in a user's profile determine the number of licenses that are used during a meeting. The following table illustrates how the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system counts licenses.

The Cisco Unified MeetingPlace counts a license against the meeting host-not the particpant that starts the meeting.

1 (if meeting host has only "Can host audio meetings" permission

1 audiohost and 1 videohost (if meeting host has "Can host audio and video meetings" permission, even if video conferences are not used)

Once a day, the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system checks the number of users who started meetings, against the number of installed licenses, for the preceding 90 days. The system raises separate alarms if the number of meeting users exceeds the installed license-one for the audiohost license, and another, for the videohost license.

The Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system retains this license audit information for a year.

Adding Users By Synchronization with a Cisco WebEx Site

When new users are added by synchronizing profiles from a Cisco WebEx site, their audio permissions are copied to the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace profile. However, video permissions are based on the guest user profile.

During initial installation, the guest user profile has both video and audio permissions set to group default. If the default group is the system group, then audio permissions are on, while video permissions are off.

Installing Licenses

Note: Use the Install Licenses page in the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Administration Center to get the MAC address of the Meeting Director node(s)/Application Server(s). Use of the ifconfig command to obtain the MAC address of a virtual machine results in an invalid Licensing MAC address.

The Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system uses the MAC address of the primary and the secondary Meeting Director nodes (for a multinode deployment) or the MAC address of the Application Server(s) (for an audio only/MeetingPlace scheduling deployment) in the license file:

Physical machines-Hardware MAC address.

Virtual machines-Licensing MAC address. The Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system creates a 12-digit hex number that is based on the configuration of the virtual machine:

Hostname

IP address

Subnet mask

Primary DNS

Time zone

Note: If you change any of these configuration values, then the Licensing MAC address will change, resulting in an invalid license file. If this happens, then within 24 hours of the change, the system gives a warning for you to obtain a new license file. If a new license is not installed, you may later get an alarm stating that there is no license installed or that the license usage has been exceeded.You have a 30-day grace period before the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system reverts to an unlicensed system.

Once the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system is installed, go to the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Administration Center and get the Licensing MAC address. Use this Licensing MAC address at the Cisco website to obtain your license file.

Install the license file on the Meeting Director node(s) (multinode system) or on the Application Server(s) (audio only/MeetingPlace scheduling deployment). Unlike previous releases, you do not install licenses on any other servers.